Lost
by Tejanochica
Summary: A sequel to Wildflower. Jizouko is out searching for answers, but all she's finding is new questions and old feelings. Where will her path take her on her journey through this life?
1. Chapter 1

There was a sort of division within Jizouko's mind. One side she knew, or at least she thought she did; it was everything that she had ever thought she'd been: a kuniochi, friend, and orphan.

The other side was more difficult to categorize. It took up only a small corner of her mind, yet it occupied all of her thoughts recently. Vague, shadowy memories that would rise to the surface when she lease suspected it. Most of them were sounds, snippets of conversations she had once heard… possibly, it was so hard to tell. The few images that accompanied the sounds were mostly of landscape, tall, verdant trees and towering peaks; much like the mountains she was currently residing in.

"Ji-chan!" a woman's voice broke her from her thoughts.

Jizouko sighed as she stood up from the boulder she had been sitting on, popping a few of her joints along the way.

"Come on, it's not safe to be out this late," the woman said as she looked around apprehensively.

Instead of following the woman's request she ventured further into the forest in the hopes that the woman would give up and leave her alone. That was another thing that had been bothering Jizouko lately, the woman. It felt wrong to call her by her name, because by most people's counts Ureshi Tomoe was long dead. There had even been a funeral.

"Ji-chan!" the woman's voice faded the further she passed into the trees.

She was surprised that the woman was still trying to talk to her; most people would have given up after almost a month of one-sided conversations.

She didn't bother to look around at the ancient trees reaching up into the dusk sky; they all looked exactly the same to her. She had spent most of her time wandering around the mountain side searching for the answers that the note had promised, but so far she had no luck in that area. A soft creaking sound caused her to look around at her surroundings and she found herself in a large clearing. The clearing itself wasn't unusual, the mountain side was littered with them, but rather it was the old, charred structure residing in it that caught her attention. It seemed almost familiar, and as she drew closer to it the small corner of her mind stirred.

"Jizouko-chan?" she nearly jumped at the sound of Isamu's voice nearby. "What're you doing out here?"

She turned towards him and thought for a moment before she shrugged her shoulders, answering simply, "I don't know."

"It's not a good idea to be wandering out here alone," he said with a frown as he walked closer to her.

"But you do it all the time," she protested.

"That's because I know these hills and they know me," he explained as he placed a strong hand on her shoulder and began to steer her away from the burnt remains. "I've been here for a long time and I'll be here for even longer to come."

"Then you must know what this was," she mused as her eyes were drawn back to the crumbled, blackened walls.

"Yes," he nodded as he continued to walk away with Jizouko.

"Well?" she pressed as her gaze shifted to Isamu. "What was it?"

"It was a home," he said after a long pause.

"What happened to it? Who lived in it?"

"My brother and his family used to live there, but a storm came before it was finished and wiped them all out except for one."

"Your niece," Jizouko concluded. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know," Isamu shook his head, "I haven't seen her since then; she's probably dead…"

Her mouth opened into a small "o" shape at this.

"But enough about that," he decided to change the subject, "what about you? Why did you leave your village?"

"I don't know," she sighed as she hung her head, "I thought I would find answers, but all I've got is more questions!"

"Maybe I can help," he offered, "what questions do you have?"

_Who were my real parents, why did they leave me, what's my real name, what's the deal with the Makaze…_ she trailed off in her mind.

"Where am I really from?" she decided on one that had always bugged her.

"Why would you ask that?" he asked as he thought about her question. "Haven't you always called Konoha your home?"

"Not always," she shook her head "no" as she focused on the mossy ground, "I was found just wandering around ten years ago and they took me in. It only started to feel like a home a few years ago."

"Hmm," Isamu hummed as he mulled over this information. "If I didn't know better I'd say you were from here," he said finally, "That would explain why you could get so far up the mountain…"

"What do you mean?" She hadn't gone _that _far, had she?

"Where I make my home is the farthest that most people can make it in the foothills, my brother's is much higher up," he explained when he noticed her confused expression. "A part from me the only other person who would be able to make it that far would be his daughter, but we've already established that you're not her."

_I wouldn't be too sure about that_, she thought dryly.

"Why is that?" she asked curiously.

"I'm not sure myself," he admitted, "supposedly there's a guardian spirit that doesn't really like people, but I've never seen him before…"

"Maybe I should ask him," she thought aloud, "he would definitely know if I'm from here or not."

"That would be a very long climb," Isamu cautioned, "he lives in the caves near the peak."

"Better than sitting around wondering all day," Jizouko countered as a plan began to form in her mind. If she was lucky the spirit would know the answer and she could move on with her life sooner.


	2. Chapter 2

"Are you sure about this?" a woman's worried tone broke the quiet that had fallen over Jizouko as she packed her bag.

_No_, she answered instantly in her mind, but gave a casual shrug instead after a moment.

"Do you have a better idea?" she asked as she slung the bag over one shoulder and turned to face the woman.

She stared deep into the woman's ruby eyes, waiting for an answer.

"You could take my word for it," she said. "I know the truth; all you have to do is believe me."

"Oh yeah?" Jizouko scoffed at the thought, "How would you know? Besides, why should I trust you? You abandoned me."

"I didn't mean to," the woman tried to defend herself.

"Yeah, disappearing for six years is definitely unintentional," she snorted as she pushed past the woman.

"Ji-chan…" the woman trailed off as she watched her leave.

She took a deep breath when she stepped outside into the cool morning air. The sun was just beginning to rise over the trees, spreading its warm, golden fingers out into the sky. It was a good day to start a journey, she decided.

"Don't forget this," Isamu interrupted her thoughts as he handed her a scroll.

"What is it?" she asked as she accepted it from his hand.

"It's a map," he explained as she put it into her bag, "it'll tell you how to get back here, no matter where you are."

She nodded her thanks as she remembered being told that most people would get lost in the mountains and never be seen again.

"I'll be sure to ask about your niece," she said, maybe that would show her thanks to the man.

"No need," he shook his head at the offer, "I've accepted that wherever she is, she's in a better place."

She frowned slightly at this, "Why?" she asked.

"Some questions are better left unanswered," he said cryptically. "In other words, I'm afraid of the answer," he clarified quickly as he patted her on the back. "You better get going; the weather's not going to stay so nice for long."

Jizouko nodded before she started to walk out of the clearing, pausing to take one last look around before she plunged into the trees.

* * *

><p>She had lost track of how long she had been climbing up the mountain side, but it was long enough for dark clouds to gather on the horizon, promising rain when night fell.<p>

"Great," she muttered as she began to look around for some shelter.

She didn't find a cave or anything like that, so she had to settle for a small space covered by a large tree's roots. The rough bark scraped at her skin as she squeezed between the roots just as large rain drops began to fall.

She sighed as she settled into a more comfortable position to wait the storm out in; there would be no more traveling for today. She felt her eyes begin to droop as she watched the rain fall outside of her shelter and let the steady drum against the tree roots lull her to sleep.

When she opened her eyes again what seemed like a second later the sky was a clear blue again with a few puffy, white clouds scattered about. She winced as the bright sunlight hit her sensitive retinas while she stretched her stiff joints, hearing a few pop satisfyingly.

She jumped a bit when a shadow passed over her and a pair of delicate, sandaled feet were visible past the tree roots.

_Didn't Isamu say that no one else lived here? _she wondered as she watched the feet move warily.

Once she felt that it was safe to leave her shelter she squeezed through the roots once again and took off after the pair of feet.

It was infuriating, just when she thought she was going to catch up to whoever was walking a head of her the person would take a turn, leaving her with just a glimpse of purple hair flowing in the wind. She thought about calling out to the person, but somehow it felt wrong; like she should already know who this person was and where they were going.

She was sure it was a woman who she was following, but what was a woman doing so deep into a supposedly haunted mountain range? Better yet, what was _she_ doing in these mountains?

She picked up her pace to a light jog when she saw the woman stopped outside of a cave. She was about to reach out to touch the woman when she noticed that something was off about the cave. Maybe it was the sulfurous smell eminating from it, or the humid air surrounding it, or the smoke rising from the mouth.

Every muscle in her body tensed when a pair of glowing yellow eyes opened in the darkness of the cave and a low growl reverberated through her bones.

* * *

><p>She sat up straight – not the best idea to do when hunkered down underneath a tree – and hit her head against the roof of her shelter. She groaned pitifully as she rubbed at the now sore spot and peered through the roots outside.<p>

The sky was still a drab shade of grey and water dripped off the leaves of the trees, but it was still aside from that.

"What a weird dream," she mumbled to herself as she pulled herself out from between the tree roots.

She ignored the small scrapes and smears of mud that she had gained as she looked around for the way she had been heading before the rain.

Unlike before, the terrain seemed more familiar to her. She recognized it from her dream, and her feet began to move in the direction that the woman had been taking. Her mind didn't fully register that she was simply wandering with no real heading; she was too preoccupied with looking around in wonder. What was it that was so familiar about these trees?

The small corner of her mind stirred slightly.


	3. Chapter 3

Lost: a Very Special White Day Special

* * *

><p>Ah, March 14; better known in some parts a White Day. The day that the male population would get over their egos and admit that they have feelings for a girl. At least, that's what was supposed to happen. Sometimes the boy is too "tough" to admit that he feels anything, or even worse, the girl is too oblivious to realize her feelings for the boy, as is the case for one young couple.<p>

* * *

><p>"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura practically sang when her dark-haired team mate came into view. "Do you know what today is?" she asked as she danced around him.<p>

"Uh… Wednesday?" he answered in mild confusion; why was she acting so weird on such a random day?

It looked like she had been struck by lightning, her good mood completely gone.

"Hey, I know what today is, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted as he waved his hand in the air. "It's White Day!"

Sakura ignored the blonde's answer, choosing to mope instead.

So today was White Day, the most useless day of the year; right after Valentine's Day. He decided that today would be a good day to lay low and avoid all contact with females.

* * *

><p>Jizouko hummed to herself as she wandered around Konoha searching for something to do. For some reason all the boys she ran into were acting strange; maybe there was something in the water…<p>

"Hey, Uchiwa!" she called out when she recognized the boy's unique hair style. "What's up?" she asked as she jogged up next to him.

He just grunted in response as he continued on his way.

"Hey, do you know why people are acting so weird today?" she asked, looking around at the people glancing at them and whispering to each other.

"I have no idea," he said as an eye twitched in annoyance.

"Me neither," she said with a frown as she laced her hands behind her head, continuing to walk next to him.

"Don't you have something to do?" he asked tiredly after a while.

"Nope," she said, popping the "p", "I got the day off!"

"Why?" he asked with a frown, was her sensei suffering from the same thing Sakura was?

"Today's the day I celebrate my birthday!" she announced with a wide grin. "Now where's my gift?"

"Why would I get you a gift? You're annoying," he scoffed. _What would I even get someone like you?_ He wondered off hand.

"Well, if you don't have gifts for me then buy me lunch! I'm starving," she said as she clutched at her stomach for added effect.

"Tch, no," he shot the idea down. He knew how much she could eat, and quite frankly he didn't have enough money for that.

"Fine," she pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest, "I'll just go ask Junnosuke-kun, he'll buy me food."

"You go do that," Sasuke snorted as he continued on his way home, glad to be rid of her for the moment.

* * *

><p>"Junnosuke-kun!" Jizouko grinned when she found the green-haired boy. "Guess what today is!"<p>

"Um… White Day?" he asked, that was the answer that most girls would expect.

"Really?" she blinked; maybe that's why people were acting so weird…

"Yeah, what did you think it was?" he chuckled.

"My birthday," she answered with a smile. "You wanna buy me lunch?"

* * *

><p>Why was this eating at him so much? Why was he not glad that Jizouko wasn't bugging him about going out to eat?<p>

These are some of the questions that were plaguing Sasuke as he watched the purple-eyed girl eating with that green-haired teen from the Chunin Exams. Honestly, he shouldn't care. He was Uchiha Sasuke for crying out loud! He should only be able to feel hatred for his brother, the fuel that drove his ambitions!

_Screw it!_ He growled internally as he watched that green-haired boy move in closer to Jizouko. She was too oblivious to romance to be a real girl.

* * *

><p>"Ha ha, what do you mean I have something on my face?" Jizouko laughed as she dabbed at her cheeks with a napkin.<p>

"No, you're just smearing it around," Junnosuke chuckled as he reached out and took her hand, guiding it in the motions that would clean her face.

He stopped moving and stared deeply into her gold-flecked eyes and her heart forgot how to beat for a moment when she noticed he was getting closer, his hand still around hers.

"Um… Junnosuke-kun…" she trailed off in her question, but it would turn out that she wouldn't get the chance to finish it.

There was a loud crash and the next thing she knew Junnosuke was on the floor cradling his cheek. She blinked owlishly as she felt herself being pulled to her feet and guided out of the restaurant.

"Eh? Sasuke-kun?" she tilted her head in curiosity, "I thought you didn't want to eat with me."

He mumbled something under his breath as he continued to walk, clearly intent on getting away from the restaurant and the stunned teen lying on its floor.

"Do you want to go get some cake?" she asked, still oblivious to what had just happened.


	4. Chapter 4

Jizouko couldn't quite shake the feeling that she was being watched as she made her way through the trees. Maybe it was how the trunks seemed to be growing closer and closer together, or how the temperature seemed to be rising the further she climbed – which went against all reason. The environment had grown hot and oppressive and she nearly jumped every time the underbrush would shift with the wind.

_I need to calm down_, she sighed as she wiped large beads of sweat from her brow.

The sun was beginning to sink below the tree tops signaling the coming night, making her mild paranoia grow steadily worse.

Things went bump in the night, she knew that for sure; but what would go "bump" around here? Her imagination conjured horrible monsters, giant snakes and spiders were the particularly nasty ones.

She was thankful that the mountainside was now pocked with small caves and alcoves she could shelter in for the night. She chose a large, dry-looking cave as her shelter and set about making some semblance of a camp. She cursed herself for not bringing something to sleep on or anything else one would bring to make a camp for that matter.

She felt blindly around the floor of the cave for some dry wood to start a fire with as she muttered darkly about her shortsightedness. Her fingers brushed over what felt like scales and she immediately jumped back, tripping over her own feet and falling to the floor. Her chest heaved and her heart beat erratically as she sat on the floor trying to calm herself down.

Her eyes gradually adjusted to the dark of the cave and she could make out a pair of empty eye holes set into almost transparent white scales. She almost laughed in relief; it was just an old snake skin.

Her relief was cut short when a loud hissing paired with the sound of something sliding over loose stones approached her from deeper in the cave. She shuffled backwards as a dark shape that filled up the majority of the cave emerged from the darkness. Her retreat came to a halt when her back pressed against the wall and she sat as still as she could manage while the shape continued to advance. Maybe if she didn't move whatever it was wouldn't notice her.

The shape grew even closer and the hissing grew louder until finally she was staring into the pale yellow eyes of a giant snake. It didn't pause for a moment as it glided over the old skin, grinding it to dust against the cave floor as it continued out into the growing dark.

Her panicked idea appeared to be working as the beast passed her without sparing her so much as a glance until her foot slipped, sending a cascade of rocks skittering across the floor. The snake turned its head quickly towards her and hissed, flicking its forked tongue out towards her. The bottom fell out of her stomach as she thought she was going to die now, cowering against a cave wall.

The snake swung its head away, ignoring her as it slithered out into the trees.

Relief washed over her for a brief moment followed by a deep disgust in herself. She hadn't even registered to the snake as good enough to make a light snack out of! The disgust turned into a burning resolve as she vowed to herself that it would never happen again. She would get stronger and come back to kill the snake for deeming her as not a threat.

Who was she kidding? She thought to herself as her resolve gave way to self-pity; she had run away from her village for no apparent reason and was not huddled in a cave on some forsaken mountainside. She would be surprised if she could even hurt a fly right now…

She rested her head on her knees as she took deep, steady breaths to calm herself. What she needed not was to sleep, not to beat herself up. Her deep breathing quickly turned into long breaths and longer exhales as she fell into a meditative rhythm and eventually into sleep.

* * *

><p>The giant snake slid easily between the trees with an eerie grace as its body coiled and uncoiled, weaving into the narrow gaps between the trees. It was a beast on a mission; to kill the human who dared to encroach on its territory. The last time trespassers had come its prey had been spirited far away, so far that it could no longer taste the scent on the wind. That had been so long ago; did it even remember what its prey smelled like? That small creature huddling near the entrance to its cave smelled familiar, but it couldn't pick anything out past the fear radiating off of it.<p>

Maybe if the creature was still there when it returned it would make a delicious snack, it could sense a fair amount of chakra buried beneath the fear. It had been a long time since it had eaten anything with any amount of chakra.

* * *

><p>Jizouko awoke with a start when she heard the crack of a twig breaking. Her head shot up as she looked around with wild eyes until her eyes finally landed on a man. He was standing about a meter away from her, sizing her up it seemed.<p>

"Can I help you?" she asked tiredly as she rubbed at her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" the man demanded as he slid his hands into the sleeves of his shiny, black yukata.

"Searching," she answered evasively as she got to her feet.

"Search elsewhere," the man said after a pause, turning to leave. "You will only find sorrows here."


	5. Chapter 5

Jizouko stared after the man as he walked away through the trees, not quite believing what just happened. Did he just tell her to get lost?

_Rude_, she thought as she looked around at the forest. The sun had yet to rise and the rocks and vegetation were bathed in the pale glow of the setting moon. As far as she could tell the giant snake hadn't returned to its lair, to which she gave a sigh of relief.

_What's an old guy doing around here anyways?_ She wondered moodily as she glared in the direction he had gone in.

"Wait… What?" she frowned after a short pause; Isamu had said that no one else lived on this mountain… then that meant… "The guardian spirit is an ornery old man? Lame…"

She immediately shut her mouth when she thought she heard a low growling nearby. It probably wasn't the best idea to insult a – most likely – powerful being in his home. She hardly spared a moment for thought before taking off after the old man, searching the shadows for the shimmer of his yukata.

* * *

><p>The trees were beginning to thin out as the caves began to multiply until the entire mountain side took on the appearance of a sponge. A small part of her wondered if all the caves were connected somehow, but the larger part of her didn't really care at the moment.<p>

"Hello?" she called out as she swung her head about, trying to find the old man.

"I thought I told you to leave," a voice rumbled through the air around her and deep into her bones.

"Yeah, about that…" she trailed off as she rolled her eyes.

"You're either very brave or very stupid to stay here," the voice snorted and plumes of smoke rose out of many of the caves' mouths.

"What makes you say that?" she asked distractedly, she was more interested in why the caves were smoking to be honest.

"Did you not see the snake, or are you blind as well?" The contempt was almost palpable as it dripped off of the voice.

"I'm not blind!" she snapped as she decided to investigate a nearby cave, maybe the man would be in there. "Besides, why would I be afraid of that overgrown earthworm? I'm not a child."

"Ha ha ha, that's rich!" the voice boomed, causing her to stumble back slightly. "You're like a babe who's gotten a hold of her father's weapon, no skill and all swagger!"

The sound of scales sliding against each other echoed off of the few trees around her, and she immediately unsheathed one of her short swords secured to the small of her back. Was that the snake she heard? She hoped not, her heart was already beating fast just from the voice booming around her.

"Put your toy away," the voice ordered as a pair of glowing yellow eyes lit up the dark of the cave she almost entered. "You'll only hurt yourself."

"Why don't you come out here and say that to my face?" she challenged even though her voice and hands were shaking.

"If you insist," the voice chuckled darkly as the ground began to trembled in a steady beat, like heavy footsteps.

Her heart almost stopped when she saw the hulking shape emerge from the cave mouth. Scratch that, she was reasonably sure that her heart did in fact stop, only to start beating again twice as fast as usual. It almost seemed like the opening was too small, surely the shape wouldn't be able to fit… but it did. A large, shimmering black head broke into the morning sunlight. She recognized it from the tattoos she had seen inked onto the pale skin of deviants who thought that the image would grant them its prowess, but she never thought she would see one face-to-face while she was alive.

"What? Don't tell me you're _scared _now." Scaly lips pulled back into a sneer, revealing razor-sharp white fangs aligned in neat rows.

"You're a dragon," she managed to say dumbly as she continued to gape.

"Good to see you're as smart as you appear," the legendary beast scoffed, releasing a cloud of smoke into the air.

"You're not real," she tried to reason, pointing her sword at him.

"Yet here I am."

"This isn't possible."

"If you say so; you obviously know _so_ much about the world you live in. Much more than me, at least."

"Stop patronizing me!" Jizouko snapped as she jabbed her blade towards the condescending creature's snout.

"Then stop saying stupid things," the dragon countered as he sent a jet of hot air at her, making her jump quickly to the side.

"Are you the guardian spirit?" she asked after taking a deep breath.

"Depends, who told you about me?" the beast lowered his head until one of his yellow eyes was at her level.

"Does it really matter?" she sighed, her shoulders hunching forward a bit.

"Yes."

"You know what? I don't like your tone," she decided as she crossed her arms over her chest, "so I'm not going to tell you."

"Then I won't answer your question," the dragon answered smoothly as he began to withdraw his head back into the cave. "An answer for an answer, no more, no less."

She glared at the great, scaled head and she thought she saw a spark of amusement dancing in his yellow orbs.

"Can I at least know your name?" she asked before he had disappeared completely.

"… No."

* * *

><p>Jizouko swung her two swords at imaginary enemies under the afternoon sun, an attempt at passing time. She had decided that she would out-wait the dragon in order to get her answers, but there was a small problem she hadn't considered before; she wasn't a patient person.<p>

She finally sat down heavily on the ground; she could feel her energy being sapped by the heat of the sun.

"Why are you even here?" the dragon growled from his cave.

She looked over her shoulder to see his large head resting on folded claws, eyeing her closely with his yellow eyes.

"I'm looking for something," she said, turning back to look out into the forest.

"You'll find no treasures here," he grunted.

"That's okay, I'm not looking for treasures," she smiled as a cool breeze caressed her cheek.

"Then what are you looking for?" She could hear the frown in his voice.

_Myself_, she thought after a moment but chose to keep it to herself, instead she said, "For me to answer that then you'll have to answer my question," she grinned as a playful spark worked its way into her eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

"Very well," the dragon growled, "ask your question."

"Are you the guardian spirit of these mountains?" Jizouko asked, still looking out through the trees.

"I am neither a guardian nor a spirit," the mythological beast snorted, "but I suppose to some I am. Now who are you?" he asked.

She allowed her gaze to fall to her feet stretched out on the ground as she searched for an answer. "I'm not sure," she finally admitted in a soft voice, "I guess I was hoping that you could tell me…"

"How would I know you if you don't even know yourself?" it sounded like there was a soft rumble of laughter behind his words.

She felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her as she considered this. What had she been thinking? Obviously she hadn't been thinking considering the situation she now found herself in; she had abandoned her friends and village at the promise of a few words scribbled onto a scrap of paper left on her windowsill. No one in their right mind would have done that without consulting anyone first.

"Well, what about the man who used to live here, with his wife and daughter," she started, hoping to draw the dragon's attention away from her previous question. "What happened to them?"

The great reptile's chuckles stopped at her new inquiry and suddenly a chill set into her bones. She shivered slightly and began to rub her hands against her bare arms, night was falling fast.

"He was killed, along with his wife," was his answer before he shot back a question of his own. "What are you doing here if you don't even know who you are?"

"I don't know," she sighed tiredly. _Maybe I should just go back to Konoha and live out my life as Moriyama Jizouko, the abandoned orphan_, she mused bitterly as she tilted her head back and watched the sky fade into black. "What happened to the man's daughter, Jiyuudo?" The least she could do was find out about Isamu's niece before giving up.

"What kind of question is that?" the dragon grunted and she could hear the disbelief in his voice.

"Is she alive?" she tried again only to have him snort a puff of smoke at her.

"Of course you are, idiot, or did you die while we were talking?"

"What?" she gasped, her mouth falling open in shock. "I think I would know something like that!" she declared as she quickly got to her feet.

"So says the girl who admitted that she didn't know who she was," he scoffed as he shifted his claws.

"Why should I believe you?" she asked as she pointed an accusatory finger at his scaly snout.

"Have I given you a reason to not?" he countered.

"Well… no," she fumbled for a moment, "but I haven't given you a reason to tell me the truth."

"True," he trailed off as he tapped his bearded chin with a claw, "how about a deal, then?"

"What kind of deal?" she asked cautiously; was it wise to make deals with mythological creatures?

"You do a favor for me and I will tell you the truth."

"… What's the favor?"

"Kill the snake," he with a flash of an emotion she couldn't quite place in his yellow eyes.

* * *

><p>"This is crazy," she muttered as she roughly brushed her purple-streaked hair out of her face. She winced when a knot caught onto one of her many piercings, but broke free before tearing the earring out.<p>

She was currently trying to kill a giant snake so an even bigger, _fire-breathing_ snake would trust her and tell her the truth when in reality; she didn't want to know the truth. What would she do if she actually turned out to be Jiyuudo? She'd spent so much time being Jizouko that she didn't know how to be anyone else.

"I'm crazy," she groaned with a shake of her head. "I should go check myself into the nearest mental institution, just to be safe…"

She fell silent when she saw a great, gleaming shape winding between the thick tree trunks. The snake's scales looked almost like the moonlight pooling on the forest floor, but she knew better.

_Am I really going to do this?_ She asked herself as she reached for a kunai. _Yeah, I guess so_; she decided when her hand wrapped around the hilt of the familiar weapon.

She squeezed her eyes shut and said a rushed prayer to Bishamonten for luck before jumping off the branch she was perched on with two kunai clutched tightly in her fists. Apparently her quick prayer had taken too long because almost the entire snake had passed when she landed in a low crouch. She paid no mind though as she ran towards the tail, weapons ready to slash through the milky-white scales.

Without even pausing for a moment the snake flicked its tail and caught her across the stomach, sending her flying through the underbrush until her back slammed into an ancient tree trunk. The wood shuddered under the impact but stayed intact. A quick mental check of what hurt revealed that everything was aching, especially her head. She felt a warm liquid running down her neck and back and tried to make herself believe that it was tree sap, but she knew it wasn't.

_Yeah, I'm crazy_, was her last thought before slipping into unconsciousness.

* * *

><p>Her sense of hearing returned first, and she could distinguish the sound of a small fire crackling and the sound of something moving around; most likely human since she could hear the shuffling of cloth. Next came her sense of touch, and she instantly regretted it. She was lying on a rough surface, and she could feel every individual ridge of dirt and pebble digging into her tender back. She groaned loudly as she tried to get up and alleviate the pressure on her back, but that plan didn't work out so well for her because her arms were shaking so much that she simply fell back and agitated her wounds even more.<p>

"You are very foolish," she recognized the dragon's voice, but it seemed less... big than before.

"So I've heard," she grunted as she tried to sit up again and succeeded in slumping forward, her eyes screwed shut against the pain shooting across her back. "Why would you lay me on my back if you knew it was injured?"

"Why would you charge at a beast you knew could kill you in an instant?" he countered without missing a beat.

She cracked one eye open so she could give him a proper glare, but she was met with a different sight than the expected scaled beast. It was a man seated across the fire from her wearing a shimmering, black yukata with grey hair falling over his tan face. She knew that it was the dragon despite his changed appearance because of his yellow eyes. They were definitely not human, she thought with a slight shudder.

"But it didn't," she said with a small amount of pride swelling her chest, "and that's all that matters."

He sighed and shook his head at this, muttering to himself softly. She thought she heard something about "just like him" and "damn, cocky humans". She chose to ignore his words as she pressed one hand against her side, trying to feel for any broken ribs. She paused for a moment when she felt bandages wrapped tightly around her chest keeping her from breathing too deeply but also from agitating her wounds with her movements.

"Thank you," she said softly, suddenly finding the glowing coals of the fire very interesting.

"Hn," he grunted in response. "You're too loud, next time try to be quieter."


	7. Chapter 7

Jizouko swung her blades at the dust motes swirling in the late afternoon sun maybe two weeks after her encounter with the snake. She wasn't sure exactly how long it had been; the days were beginning to run together for her. Especially since for the majority of however many days had passed she had been almost immobile because of her back.

Movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she stopped moving mid-swing. Her eyes slowly trailed to the edge of the clearing. A deer was nibbling on the tender green shoots of grass growing in the shade of the trees. Her stomach began to ache at the sight. She had never really been one to eat meat back in Konoha, but the rumbling in her stomach was enough to make her consider something other than vegetables for once.

She slowly began to move towards the deer, careful not to make any sudden movements or any sound. The animal's ears flicked as it continued to eat and it would occasionally look up, causing Jizouko to freeze. Once she was maybe a meter away from her pray the animal bolted into the woods. She took off after it without a second thought, jumping over fallen logs and swinging at the low branches that reached out and scratched at her.

Her breath was beginning to come in ragged puffs as her lungs strained to provide oxygen for her starved muscles. She shook her head violently to clear her tangled hair from her vision and the moment she took her eyes off of her path the ground slid beneath her feet and she tumbled down into a patch of mud. She groaned to herself as she propped herself up and looked down at her now filthy clothes. She raked her fingers through her hair as she pushed back her bangs in frustration and hissed when her digits caught a particularly tough knot. For a moment she considered cutting her hair, but something stopped her and instead she took the wrappings from around the handle of one of her kunai and used it to hold her now shoulder-length hair out of her face. She sat panting for a long moment before finally getting to her feet with a heavy sigh. Was it too late to go back to Konoha? She had probably already been branded a deserter; maybe they would forgive her if she said she was sorry…

She looked around and saw that she was in a small ravine lined with steep, muddy sides and a small stream trickling through the bottom, soaking her sandals. She sloshed her way to one side and started to climb up with the aid of a few tree roots. A soft growl reached her ears when she finally began to haul herself over the edge, but she continued anyways, thinking it was just her stomach. The growling grew louder and she looked up and froze.

A large black wolf glared down at her with amber eyes, razor-sharp fangs bared. From this distance she could see the slight yellowing of the beast's teeth and feel its hot breath on her face.

"Nice doggy," she said weakly as she swallowed the lump forming in her throat.

The wolf stalked towards her and she could pick out the clumps of mud sticking to its dark fur. She considered dropping back down into the ravine, but then she would be trapped… but she couldn't climb up because the wolf was there… It lowered into a crouch, ready to pounce and she made her decision. She released her grip on the edge and stumbled backwards when her feet hit the muddy bottom of the ravine. She took off in a frantic run, crashing through the underbrush and splashing through the trickle of water. She heard splashing behind her – or was that just her imagination?

The snarling at her heels told her that no, it wasn't her imagination.

Her foot slipped on a smooth rock and she landed on a bed of old leaves and pine needles, skidding a bit more down the ravine. The air was forced from her lungs and she lay there gasping, her tired muscles refusing to move a centimeter more without a moment's rest. She heard the scraping of the wolf's claws on the loose stones drawing closer behind her; it sounded like death approaching. Violent, painful death.

Was she okay with this? To die lying down? No, she wasn't.

She forced her screaming muscles to move as she managed to get into a crouch and fumbled for a weapon. She found that her kunai pouch had fallen off at some point during her flight and she had dropped her swords too, leaving her with only shuriken. Her shaking hand inched towards her shuriken holster to find that missing as well.

She could see the wolf rounding a bend in the ravine now, white foam contrasting against its onyx fur. In panic she reached out for a stick embedded into a muddy wall and found it stuck fast. She whipped her head to the side and saw the beast was less than five meters from her. She braced herself for the sting of the animal's claws and fangs ripping at her tanned skin. So this was to be her end?

Apparently Jurōjin had other plans for her.

Another animal's snarling overpowered the black wolf's and a shadow passed over her crouched form. She cracked open one eye to see a hulking white beast standing with its back to her. The new animal slashed at the first – which was much smaller by comparison – and knocked it to one side of the ravine. The black wolf yelped in pain and quickly rolled onto its back, barring its belly and throat in a sign of submission.

The white beast gave one last growl before turning around to face Jizouko and she felt her blood run cold. It was an enormous wolf staring down its pointed muzzle at her with its deep, black eyes. Faced with her impending doom combined with exhaustion her body and mind couldn't take it anymore and the world went black.

* * *

><p><em>Man, I <em>_**really**__ have to stop passing out!_ Jizouko groaned mentally as she sat up, ignoring her protesting muscles.

She peered around with bleary eyes and saw she was now outside of the dragon's cave. She stiffened when she saw the white wolf sitting just outside of the mouth of the cave a few meters away staring head-on at the black dragon. It looked as if they were communicating wordlessly, and for a moment she wondered what they were talking about. The dragon shifted his yellow eyes to rest on her and the wolf followed suit, turning its head over its shoulder.

"Uh… hi?" she tried, feeling uncomfortable under the two beasts' gazes.

"You're lucky Makoto-kun likes you," the dragon growled.

The wolf, Makoto, rose and padded over to her, wagging his tail. He seemed much smaller now, had she thought him bigger in the heat of her terror?

"Thank you," she grinned sheepishly as she reached out a hand to stroke his fur; it was still as soft as she remembered.

Makoto allowed her to pet him as he stared at her with his unnerving black eyes.


	8. Chapter 8

The days had started to blend together for Jizouko. The only method she had of telling time was how long her hair had grown; not very effective to say the least. It had been maybe two, three months? If that was true, then that meant…

_Mirai's 15 now..._

How was her best friend? How was her old team, for that matter? No doubt she had been replaced by now; probably by one of the other Genin that hadn't passed the Chunin Exam. Did they even miss her? They probably didn't have the time to, and if they did, why would they waste their free time thinking about a deserter like her?

She was broken from her pitiful train of thought by a nudge to her shoulder. Her head snapped up as if she was a misbehaving child caught by her parent and saw a long, white muzzle in the corner of her vision. She gave a small smile as she stroked her companion's snout with a bandaged hand. Makoto snorted as he rubbed his forehead against her cheek fondly.

She looked around at the forest surrounding them and sighed heavily. The longer that she stayed in this place the more familiar it started to feel; like she was being reminded of something that she had forgotten long ago. Maybe she really was this Jiyuudo; things were certainly lining up that way.

"I dunno, boy," she groaned, burying her face into Makoto's snowy fur. "Am I Jizouko or Jiyuudo?"

The canine stared at her for a moment with his deep, black eyes before licking her cheek and bounding away into the trees. She laughed aloud at his answer before taking off through the trees herself. No doubt she would have questions like that for the rest of her life, so why waste time now thinking about them?

* * *

><p>Mirai was having one of those weird dreams again. This time it felt like she was underwater, a change from the usual peering through trees. Something sparkling just above the surface of the water caught her attention and she looked up towards it. Her heart stopped beating for a moment. The shape was distorted by the water, but she could tell that it was a human with a spear held above his or her head; poised to strike. She stopped and stared up at the person with wide eyes, not daring to move lest she catch his or her attention. When neither she nor the person move for a full minute she scoffed at herself, she had been scared by a <em>statue<em>; what was she, five? She started to move again, turning away from the statue. A split-second later a soft splash echoed around her and then, nothing.

* * *

><p>Jizouko couldn't help the proud smile that settled onto her lips as she grabbed the end of her make-shift spear and pulled it out of the pond's muddy bottom, taking the squirming fish she had pierced too. There was a time when she would've missed, or spooked the fish before she was ready. But today she was victorious.<p>

She hoped off of the rock she was perched on and made her way over to the small fire that marked where her camp was. She had moved away from the dragon's cave about a week ago, claiming that all his criticism wasn't helping her with the "mission" he had given her. In reality she needed space so she could think clearly. Her thoughts had been so chaotic lately, always turning to her team when she could spare a moment for them.

"Whatever," she grunted as she sliced open the fish and began to gut it out.

She placed half of it on a stand raised above the flames of her small fire, leaving it to smoke while she cooked the rest for her meal. She had started trying to preserve at least half of the food she gathered when she first felt the change in the air, signaling the coming fall and the subsequent winter. She had no doubt that food would be harder to come by in the winter, if not impossible, so why tempt fate?

The scent of cooking fish always drew animals out of the trees, and this time was no different. A large white wolf padded out from between the tree trunks and over to her, whining as he nudged her arm with his head. She pushed his head away with a scoff; he always did this even though he could get his own food. Makoto whined again and repeated his actions, knocking her over this time with a shove. She laughed as she rolled onto her side and held his wet nose away from her face.

A shift in the wind caught both of their attention, ending their rough-housing for the moment. A new scent wafted through the trees, causing Makoto to run off to investigate while Jizouko kicked dirt onto the small fire, ruining her meal in the process. She ignored her stomach's protesting growls as she took to the trees, climbing up to the higher branches where she would be all but invisible. She leapt from branch to branch, moving down the mountain side towards the new scent.

* * *

><p>A team of shinobi passed through the trees beneath her, and they were making much more noise than Jizouko had been accustomed to hearing in the past months. It sounded like they were yelling and crashing through the underbrush to her; maybe her hearing had grown more sensitive…<p>

"This is stupid!" a female in the group whined, her voice cutting through the still air like a knife. Jizouko shuddered at the sound; she did _not_ envy the other members of the team. "You won't even tell us why we're here!"

"It's not like it would keep you quiet," another girl muttered to herself, too softly for the first to hear.

Jizouko snorted softly to herself before jumping to another branch to keep her position a secret. From her new position she could see more of the team; it was three girls and a boy. One of the girls was a red head and obviously older than the older dressed in black and a forest green vest. She recognized the vest as one someone Chunin or above would wear, so this woman was definitely the leader. The girl who was the first to speak was a brunette and wore a pair of dark pants and a white shirt. The boy was also a brunette, but his hair was lighter than the girl's, and he was wearing all black as well. She noted with surprise that the boy was also wearing a forest green vest, why did this team have two Chunin or above?

The final member of the group was walking slightly behind the other three. It was a blonde girl wearing a blue dress with slits up the side. The girl stopped walking and angled her head upwards. Jizouko felt her heart skip a beat when it felt like the girl was looking straight at her.


	9. Chapter 9

Jizouko fairly flew through the trees up the mountainside, her destination clear in her mind. She _had_ to make it back to her campsite to gather all of her supplies before the shinobi got there. She would need to be on the move while the ninja were on the mountain, though why she felt that way she wasn't sure. Would it really be such a horrible thing to be found and brought back to Konoha? What was the worst that could possibly happen?

_I could be thrown into prison for suspected treason, that's what._

She had heard stories about what happened to shinobi who had deserted and then been caught. Even if they weren't put in jail there would still be the suspicious looks from the villagers, the whispers behind their backs. She didn't want to go through that again.

A small cloud of dust rose when she jumped to the ground in the clearing. It was a good thing for her that she didn't have much, just the two swords and a beat up bag with her other belongings already stowed inside. She had the swords strapped to her belt in a matter of moments; her hands shook with a sense of urgency. Next came her bag. She quickly slung the single strap over one shoulder, only for it to snap under the sudden stress.

The bag fell to the ground and opened up, spilling its contents onto the ground. She clicked her tongue in annoyance as she crouched down and began to gather up her things. She had barely finished stuffing her last shirt into the main pouch when she heard the shinobi approaching. She whipped her head around and grimaced when she was hit in the eye by the knotted ends of her matted hair.

_Stupid hair!_ She cursed mentally as she rubbed at her eye.

She grabbed the bag and took off, clutching it close to her chest as she leapt into the trees.

* * *

><p>Mirai's patience – once thought to be inexhaustible – was beginning to wear thin. "Why?" might you ask? Because the new addition to Team Four would <em>not<em> shut up and her voice was the rough equivalent of nails on the chalkboard of Mirai's mind. If the other member of the team felt similarly they were doing a very good job of hiding it.

"I'm _tired_!" Misaki – the new member – whined as her shoulders sagged. "Can we stop now? My feet hurt!"

"May as well," Akane sighed heavily, "night's coming soon and we need to make camp."

Misaki immediately perked up at the red-head's agreement and began to look around excitedly for a place to stop. Mirai rolled her eyes and continued to walk through the trees, not wanting to really spend any time at all with the brunette. She passed through a line of trees into a small clearing and looked around. On one side there was a pond fed by a small waterfall with shimmering shapes moving around in it, near the pond there was the remains of a campfire, small tendrils of smoke still rising from it. She knew then that she hadn't been imagining things earlier when she had thought she had seen someone in the shadowy tree branches.

A small object glittering in the dirt near the campfire caught her attention. She carefully made her way over to it, suspecting it to be a trap. She blinked in surprise when she found that it wasn't the trigger to a trap, but a small charm attached to a hand-woven bracelet. She bent down to pick up the bracelet and brought it closer to her eyes for further inspection.

She almost dropped it when she read the single word engraved onto the metal. She quickly stowed it into her weapons' pouch as she got up from her crouch. Takashi and Akane would want to see this, and she couldn't care less if Misaki wanted to or not.

* * *

><p>Jizouko sat outside of the dragon's cave once again, glaring into the beast's yellow eyes, once again.<p>

"Are you seriously blaming _me_ for this?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"No," the dragon growled, "I am merely stating that their deaths will be on your hands should the snake get a hold of them."

"I don't even see why I have to take care of that!" she groaned, "You're some kind of all-powerful being, right? Why don't _you_ just kill the damn thing?"

The dragon stared at her for a moment before turning his head and retreating into his cave. "It is not my battle to fight," his voice echoed around the clearing.

Jizouko let out a frustrated growl, throwing her head back and clenching her fist at her side. This was precisely why she had left to find her own clearing! There would be conversations like this almost every day and it got very old very fast.

_Whatever!_ She huffed as she turned away, _I'll just go tell those people to scram, can't say I didn't warn them._

* * *

><p>Akane stared into the dying coals of the fire that once lit up the campsite in the night. Not that it mattered to her; she was a kunoichi, and as such she didn't need a fire to see by. She had opted to keep watch while the teens under her command got some sleep, though she knew that Mirai and Takashi wouldn't get much rest. She would be willing to bet that they knew what the mission was about, they were smart kids, Takashi was even a Chunin now. They were here to find anything they could regarding their missing teammate. At first the village elders had made a big stink about having her team try to find Jizouko, but it wasn't like they could use the "your feeling would interfere with the objective" excuse, they had let that Uchiha kid's teammate onto his recovery team.<p>

"Sensei?" Mirai's voice cut through the still night.

"Yes, Mirai-chan?" she hummed turning her head towards her blonde student.

"I…" the teen started uneasily, "I was wondering why we're here."

"Ah, everyone's favorite metaphysical question," Akane sighed with a grin as she leaned back against her arms. "Why _are_ we here? What is the purpose of life?"

"Sensei," Mirai groaned, dragging a hand across her face. "You know what I mean…"

"Oh, well," the smile dropped from Akane's face. "I'm sure you've already figured it out."

Mirai looked down at her hands and Akane noticed for the first time the charm dangling from an old bracelet twined between her fingers.

"What's that?" the green-eyed Jounin asked, motioning to the bracelet.

"I found it today," her blonde student answered in a soft voice. "It belongs to her…"

Akane noted how the blue-eyed Genin avoided using the name of her old teammate. _So it's still taboo to say her name…_

"How do you know for sure?" she asked softly, not wanting to wake Takashi with talk of Jizouko.

Mirai opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by the sharp staccato of a twig snapping in the night echoing through the trees.


	10. Chapter 10

Jizouko sprung through the tree branches away from the shinobi's camp site as fast as her legs would let her. Not because she was afraid of being caught, but because that freaking snake was back. She hadn't even had enough time to get a good look at the ninjas!

"Gods damn it!" she cursed to herself as she swung around a branch, wincing as the rough bark cut into her palm. She was running out of bandages.

She could feel the trees vibrating as the snake slid past them on the ground and she could hear it hissing nearby. She had to force herself to calm down and think things through as she pressed herself against a large tree trunk. She was in a tree and the snake was on the ground so obviously she was safe, right?

Wrong.

That's what the glowing red snake eyes set into the white snake's scales told her. She would have screamed if her heart wasn't clogging her throat. Instead she bolted to another branch, using her chakra to cling to the underside. She quickly went over the possible courses of action she could take and settled on one she liked the most. Her hands flew through the familiar motions as she gathered the chakra needed for her jutsu.

_Wind Release: Devastating Whirlwind!_

The snake hissed as it drew its head away from the chakra-infused wind cutting at it. She sprung from her perch and landed on the snake's head for a split-second before jumping back into the tree branches back the way she had come. She heard the reptile in hot pursuit and she smirked to herself as she led it towards the timberline.

The moon hung low on the western horizon surrounded by countless pin-pricks of light. It would have been a beautiful sight to stop and admire, but Jizouko had more pressing things on her mind as she burst through the last of the foliage and rolled onto the rocky ground. No sooner had she gotten to her feet did the snake emerge from between the thick tree trunks hissing angrily and barring its fangs. A wide, seemingly out of place grin crossed Jizouko's features as she began a new string of hand signs. She had been looking for an excuse to try out her new jutsu, and this seemed as good as any.

_Fire Release: Fire Dragon's Roar!_

The flames shot from her mouth out at the snake causing it to rear back, thrashing about as tongues of fire licked at its white scales. The snake hissed and shot a glob of something at her. She had to roll aside quickly to avoid being hit, ending her jutsu. She watched with wide eyes as the glob sizzled, eating through the sparse grass that grew where she had been barely a moment ago.

_This thing spits acid?_ She screamed in her mind, had no one thought this important enough to tell her before so now she had to figure this out on her own?

She pushed her panicked thought aside for the moment as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, slipping into Makaze. When she opened her eyes again she saw that the snake had spat more acid at her and calmly moved out of its path. To her it seemed like it was moving extremely slow, though she knew it was actually much faster. She drew the blades she had strapped to her hips and concentrated chakra into them, sharpening the cutting edges substantially. Next, she channeled more chakra into her legs and jumped towards the snake, slashing it on the nose. The snake threw its head back in slow motion, and its hissing grew louder as everything began to speed up again. Jizouko landed near the beginning to the forest and quickly slipped into the shadows of the branches.

* * *

><p>Akane couldn't quite believe her eyes. Sure, she hadn't known exactly what to expect when she had left the camp, but this wasn't on the list of things that had been likely to happen. Her missing student was alive, a good thing, and she was fighting a giant snake, not a good thing. Why was her missing student fighting a giant snake? She had no idea, but she knew how she could find out. She concentrated on Jizouko's chakra and followed it as fast as she could as it retreated down the mountainside.<p>

The chase brought her back to the clearing that her team had made camp in, and she stopped when she saw the familiar purple-streaked hair of her old student just beyond the circle of light cast by the small fire. She noted with mild disappointment that Mirai had fallen asleep before turning her attention to the thin girl in the shadows.

"Moriyama Jizouko," she said, and the girl snapped her head to the side to look at her.

In the dim light Akane could make out very little, only that her hair had grown down to her shoulders and that her eyes were still the same shade of purple with flecks of gold swimming around her pupil.

The girl shook her head no, and a small frown made its way onto Akane's face. It was impossible for it to not be Jizouko; no one else in the _world_ had features like her, was it?

"Then who am I speaking to?" she asked, slowly reaching for a weapon just in case.

"I… I'm not sure," the girl said and Akane recognized her voice as Jizouko's.

"Regardless," Akane shrugged as she stopped reaching for her weapons, "you're a citizen of Konohagakure and we're here to bring you home."

"Home," the word sounded hollow as it fell from the girl's lips. "I don't know…"

"What's there not to know?" the red head frowned. "That's where your friends are! That's where your family is!" her voice softened when she realized what she had said.

"What family?" the girl scoffed bitterly, "And let's be honest, I never really had friends."

"What about Mirai and Takashi?"

"Oh wow, _two_ people." Eye roll.

"Look, just come back, please?" it was worth a try, right?

"No," the girl responded after a pause, "I left for a reason, or did you think I did that just for funsies?"

Akane regarded the girl for a long moment before sighing heavily, "If you say so," she conceded as she picked up a largish bag near the fire. "If it means anything, you're always welcome to come back…"

"You should leave," the girl said as she turned around and walked off into the twilight that signaled the coming dawn.


	11. Chapter 11

"Come on, get up already!" Akane growled as she nudged the sleeping Misaki's arm with her foot.

"Why? What's happened?" Mirai asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she just notice how extremely tired she was.

"Well, since _someone_ fell asleep on their watch last night," the red headed Jounin sent a pointed look to the blonde girl, "an animal got into our food supplies so now we have to go back earlier than we planned."

"How much earlier?" Takashi asked as he stretched his arms over his head.

"Today," Akane answered as she kicked some dirt onto the remnants of their fire, "get packing."

A collective groan came up from the three teens, but they complied anyways. Little did they know that their missing food was not in an animal's stomach, but rather hidden away in the underbrush just beyond the edge of the clearing. Among the provisions – as they soon would find out – was a pair of Takashi's pants along with one of his belts and long sleeved shirts, a few of Misaki's hair ties and weapons, a pair of Mirai's sandals and the bracelet she had found. Akane wanted to add a few of her own possessions, but none of her clothes were small enough to be of any use, so she settled for leaving her bedroll.

_I hope that little ingrate appreciates all this_, Akane sighed to herself, shaking her head as she tossed a handful of dirt onto the glowing remains of their small fire.

* * *

><p>Makoto was the first to notice the bag when he and Jizouko arrived in the clearing just after the sun reached its highest point in the sky. At first he sniffed curiously at the base of a large tree shrouded by ferns, and she thought he had found a rabbit's hole and left him alone. He caught her full attention when he started to drag the bag out by the strap, causing some of its contents to spill. The two of them sifted through the items eagerly once they discovered that the majority of the bag's contents were food.<p>

"We are going to fest tonight, Mako-kun!" Jizouko grinned as she teased him with a stick of dried meat.

The canine tried to bite the treat but she quickly pulled it out of his reach with a playful smile. She repacked the bag and slung the strap over one shoulder and motioned for her companion to follow her. She knew better than to stay in the clearing, no doubt the shinobi would come back to find their missing bag.

* * *

><p>"Happy?" Jizouko grunted as she set the bag down just inside of the dragon's cave. "I got the shinobi to leave."<p>

"Good," the beast hummed as he rested his large head on his equally large claws, "now you can train in peace."

"Train?" she echoed, arching an eyebrow in disbelief. "Who said anything about training?"

"That's what you've been doing for the past few months," the dragon explained as if it was the most obvious thing, "even if you didn't realize it."

"Yeah? So?" she frowned. Sure, she had noticed that she had gotten faster and her muscles stronger and other improvements from when she had been living in Konoha, but she hadn't thought much of it.

"So," he repeated her last question, "now you've reached the point where you can survive my training."

"… What?" she deadpanned, who said anything about him training her?

"You have three months at the most when the snake will not be very active," he explained patiently, as if he was talking to a child or someone not very smart. "It would be wise to take advantage of this time to get stronger so you won't have to waste anymore months trying to kill it."

"And what do I do after I kill it?" she asked cautiously, she wouldn't put it past him to have planned out the rest of her life without telling her anything.

"Hmph, what do I care?" the dragon scoffed, sending two thin columns of smoke rising into the air from his snout. "It's your life, do what you wish with it!"

She thought this over for a moment. All her life she had been told that she should aspire to be in the ANBU Black Ops or something to that effect, never to do what she wanted. Now that she was presented with that option she was at a loss.

"What if I don't know what I want to do?" she asked in a small voice.

"Then find something!" he grunted as he shifted his claws, scraping them against the stone floor of the cave. "By the Gods, girl! You act as if you've never made a decision for yourself before! Were you ordered to come all the way out here as well?"

"No!" she said defiantly as she crossed her arms, "I came because I wanted to! No one else had any say in it."

"Then go do whatever it is that you were going to do before you got caught up in all this," he said with a wave of one of his great claws, "and take Makoto with you, he's a pest whenever you're not around."

* * *

><p>Jizouko sat staring into a small fire that she had built to ward off the chill of the night, alternating from taking small bites of jerky and give slightly bigger pieces to Makoto who was lying next to her. What had she been planning on doing before she came here? Just wander around until she found a place that felt right? That didn't sound like a very fulfilling life; what if she never found such a place?<p>

Makoto, as if sensing her thoughts, pressed his white head against her leg, wordlessly telling her that he would follow her wherever she went. She smiled fondly and fed him one last bit of food before stretching out on the bedroll that the shinobi had left. The future could wait; she decided as she gazed up at the countless stars visible through the gaps in the tree branches, she had a present to live in right now.


	12. Chapter 12

Spring had arrived. The sky was blue, the grass was green and the sun was warm. The last traces of the snow had melted from the mountainside, freeing the plants to bud anew and bear fruit. In one sunlit clearing a tan, willowy figure busied itself with the task of stripping a bush of all its ripe berries. Jizouko licked the juice off her fingers with gusto as she reached with her other, relatively clean hand for another strawberry. She absently wiped at her mouth when a stray piece of her purple-streaked hair stuck in the red liquid dripping down her chin.

A sharp snap behind her ripped her attention away from her snack and turn around quickly, her now waist-length hair whipping about and getting into her wide eyes. She released a breath she didn't know she had been holding when she saw Makoto's familiar white hair peeking through the green leaves of the underbrush. She spared a small laugh as she turned back to the bush, during the winter the canine had made a game of sneaking up on her but now that the snow had finally melted he stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I know you're there Mako-kun," she hummed as she picked a bright red berry and popped it into her mouth. "Stop playing around already, we got things to do today!"

Makoto barked excitedly as he burst through the bushes, flushing a few birds out of the branches as he bounded across the clearing. Jizouko laughed as she held her hands out to catch his large front paws as he leapt to tackle her, staggering a bit under the sudden weight but remained standing. She wished for a moment that she shared in his excitement.

* * *

><p>"So, you're going tonight?" the dragon asked, his words rumbling deep in his throat.<p>

"It's as good a time as any," Jizouko reasoned as she adjusted the belt on her hips.

"Hm, I would wish you luck, but then that would doubt your training…"

"And therefore doubting my teacher," she quipped as she placed a gloved hand on the beast's scaled snout. "We can't have that, now can we?"

"No," he agreed, stretching back his lips to reveal a toothy smile.

"I'll be back for those answers you promised me," she said as she paused at the mouth of the cave.

The dragon only gave a low growl in response and she was off, jumping through the trees in search of her prey.

* * *

><p>The breeze was still chilly as it blew through the trees under the starry sky, but Jizouko paid it no mind as she crouched on a high tree branch. She watched the dark gap in the mountainside for any movement, and her vigil paid off when she saw the glimmer of scales moving in the moonlight. A wicked grin spread across her face as she drew one of the short swords attached to her belt.<p>

A milky white head slowly emerged from the cave and she pounced.

Her sandaled feet slid for a moment, but she gained a hold when she brought her sword down into the snake's head. It didn't pierce the skull, but rather stuck fast in the bone as red blood spurted out of the wound, coating the blade and her arm. She grunted as she tried to wrench her blade free, but only succeeded in making the wound larger and agitating the already thrashing reptile.

"Oh shi-!" was all she could manage before she was thrown off the snake's head and into a nearby boulder.

The snake turned to her hissing angrily and spat at her. She barely dodged the glob of acid; a few strands of her hair sizzled having been caught in the liquid. She didn't have time to stop and tend to her long hair as she spun on the balls of her feet and jumped again, her hands flying through signs at lightning speed. She crossed her arms in an "X" in front of her and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before snapping them open.

_Fire Release: Cross Fire Technique!_

She uncrossed her arms and from them came two waves of fire, hitting the snake directly on its snout and singeing its eyes. The reptile threw its head back hissing and writhing in pain, and revealing its soft belly. She unsheathed her other sword and slashed at the bare scales, spilling more blood onto her. The snake continued to thrash, trying to strike her with its tail. She barely jumped over the tail before it swept back, catching her across the stomach and sending her flying into the trees.

She groaned in pain as she carefully climbed out of the crater she had made in an ancient tree trunk, shaking the stars from her vision. She ran a hand through her long bangs and winced when her fingers trailed over a particularly deep gash in her scalp. She staggered a bit when she got to her feet and had to put a hand on the trunk to steady her violent swaying when a wave of nausea and pain hit her harder than she had hit the tree. She fought to keep on her feet and to keep the bile from rising in her throat.

"Note to self," she groaned as she forced herself to jump to the ground, "_Never_ do that again."

She crumbled to the ground as the dust settled from her landing. She clutched her stomach as if that alone could keep the pain at bay, but she knew better. She slowly got to her feet with the aid of a tree trunk, one hand on her aching head and the other pressed firmly against rough bark. She concentrated on the sensation of the bark biting into her skin despite her gloves, a testament to how much weight she was pressing against the trunk.

Angry hissing rose over the ringing in her ears and she knew that her moment of respite was over.

The snake crashed through the underbrush leaving a trail of crimson behind. Jizouko took a deep breath and straightened up before another wave of nausea had her doubled over again. Shaking hands searched for support as she pressed her back against a thick trunk and clamped her eyes shut against the spinning that tormented her vision. The snake hissed and she felt droplets of its spittle hit her cheeks. Her eyes snapped open and her fingers fumbled through the hand signs that had become almost second nature to her.

_Wind Release: Devastating Whirlwind!_

The snake reared back again thrashing its head from side to side, breaking branches as the impacts reverberated around the clearing. Jizouko searched for her remaining sword and realized in alarm that she had lost it sometime during her flight through the air. Her hand quickly went for the next best thing and drew a kunai from her weapons' pouch.

She gave a fierce war cry as she leapt onto the reptile's belly, one hand hooking onto the severed flesh as she channeled chakra into her feet to keep them from sliding on the blood-slicked scales. She hacked wildly with her kunai, channeling chakra into the blade, sharpening it to a razor's edge. She was now covered in blood as she stabbed one final time into the snake's white scales before her fingers slipped from their hold and her chakra-coated feet lost their purchase amidst the rivers of blood flowing from the snake's wounds. She landed on her back with a grunt, stunned for what felt like an eternity as the beast thrashed above her, showering her with broken twigs and branches.

The snake gave one last hiss before going limp, falling to the ground with a terminal thud. With the last of her strength Jizouko drug herself over to the reptile's great head. Her finger stretched to wrap around the black leather of her sword's hilt. Darkness was beginning to press into the corners of her vision and she had to shake her head to keep it at bay as she tugged at her sword. The blade slid from the snake's head after a few hard tugs, but that took the last of her strength.

She couldn't hear the metal ringing against the stone as it fell from her grip over the blood pounding in her ears, she could only watch as the metal glittered in the starlight before her mind went blank and oblivion claimed her senses.


	13. Chapter 13

Jizouko was floating somewhere between wakefulness and sleep. Life and death. She could feel the world going on without her, and it left a wound more painful than any inflicted by the snake. She had fulfilled her goal, but at what cost? She wasn't dead, was she?

"No, you're not dead," a woman's voice came from behind her, "not yet."

Jizouko turned around quickly, or at least she thought she did. She wasn't quite sure what direction she had been facing in the first place. Whatever she had been about to say died on her lips as she stared at the sight before her. A man and a woman smiled at her, and that dark corner of her mind sparked.

The woman had long purple hair and violet eyes, just like Jizouko did but without the gold. One of the woman's tan hands rested on her swollen belly while the other grasped one of the man's even darker hands. The man had light brown hair and golden eyes that seemed so familiar, but where had she seen them before? Both the man and the woman wore simple clothes, the woman a plain brown kimono and the man a set of what only could be described as work clothes; a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up around his elbows, dark brown pants and sandals. All in all they looked like an almost typical farming couple.

"Who are you?" Jizouko asked carefully as she watched the two closely, they seemed almost familiar to her…

"You don't remember; do you?" the woman's smile turned sad as her eyes fell to her stomach.

"Not surprising," the man reasoned as he took a step towards the teen, letting go of the woman's hand. "You were so young at the time," he trailed off as he lifted a hand to brush a lock of hair out of her wide eyes.

Jizouko took a step back before he could touch her as an image flashed before her eyes. It was the same man and woman, only they were covered in blood and lying in unnatural positions. Dead.

"What kind of jutsu is this?" she demanded as she shot an accusatory look at the man.

"Jiyuudo," the man looked like he was in anguish and his sentence was said in time with the dying breath of the man in the image that had yet to fade from her mind.

"Stop it!" she ordered as she lashed out blindly at the man, trying to get him away from her. "Get out of my head!" she screamed as she clutched at her temples, shaking as she tried to expel the visions that wouldn't stop coming.

First there was blood, so much blood, on her hands, on the man and woman, on the rocks and trees, everywhere. Then she was running. She could feel her lungs burning, heart pounding, feet aching as they beat against rough ground with no protection. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground still holding her head and breathing hard.

"It's okay Ji-chan," the woman cooed as she too stepped towards the trembling kunoichi, "you're remembering."

The woman reached out to rest a hand on her cheek and if felt like she had been struck by lightning. Images flashed in her mind at a dizzying pace and it was all she could do to not faint. Then she knew. She knew exactly who these people were, who they were to her.

"Kaa-san, Tou-san," she whispered, looking up into the woman's violet eyes with her own almost matching set.

"We've missed you," the woman's smile returned as she wrapped her arms around the girl's shoulders and held her close.

Soon another pair of strong arms wrapped around her too and Jizouko could feel tears beginning to slip down her cheeks. She was crying. Crying for the family that she barely got to know before it was ripped away from her.

"Who," she began, pulling away slightly from her parent's embrace.

"It doesn't matter," her father said, pulling her close again. "All that matters is that you're alive."

"I've missed you two," she sobbed, clinging tightly to them.

"And we you," her mother sighed, resting her cheek against her daughter's head. "But you have to go now."

"What?" she gasped, pulling away again, "Why?"

"It's not you time," her father explained as he stroked her purple streaked hair, "We'll meet again, but you'll be a wrinkly old lady then."

Jizouko gave a watery laugh as she rubbed her eyes. "Will I," she began, sniffing loudly, "will I ever see you again?"

"When you dream," her mother said, placing a kiss on her forehead, "but now it's time to wake up."

* * *

><p>"So you just found her like this?" Tomoko asked with her pale brow creased with worry.<p>

"Yeah," Isamu confirmed as he blotted the girl's tan forehead with a cool, damp cloth.

He decided to leave out the part where he found her covered in blood next to the still twitching body of a giant snake.

"How did this happen?" the ruby-eyed woman's frown deepened.

"There are many dangers on these slopes," the golden-eyed man answered cryptically.

The girl moved a bit, mumbling softly. He could only guess what she was dreaming of as he continued to wipe sweat from her face. Perhaps she saw her parents behind those closed lids, or maybe she saw those she had left behind in Konoha…

"Do you think she'll," the woman next to him started, but couldn't finish as she brushed her white bangs out of her eyes.

"No," he said with a shake of his head, "she's much too stubborn for that."

Tomoko gave a dry, mirthless laugh at his answer as she stood up from the stool she had placed next to the bed. He heard her stirring the small metal pot suspended over the fire.

"Don't worry," he said as he stood up from his station, "she'll be fine," he finished as he wrapped his arms around the woman's waist. "You'll see."


End file.
